Researchers just broke a fusion world record - and it lifts the bar for clean energy potential

10/16/2016

Share it:

Researchers have made a new world record for plasma pressure in fusion reaction. Plasma pressure is the
'key ingredient' for generating energy from nuclear fusion. This new record means
that the clean and viable energy source is way closer to reality than ever
before. The new record stands at 2.05 atmospheres - a 15% increment over the earlier
record of 1.77 atmospheres. This new record and the last one were set at the
custom-built Alcator C-Mod reactor located at MIT.

Image: Bob Mumgaard/Plasma Science and Fusion Centre

These new records are more proof
that we're getting closer to a reactor that's industrially and economically
viable. This also provides researchers more hints about how best to move
forward. Physicist Dale Meade of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory said:

This is a remarkable
achievement that highlights the highly successful Alcator C-Mod program at MIT.
The record plasma pressure validates the high-magnetic-field approach as an attractive
path to practical fusion energy.

To reach this new record,
MIT scientists turned the reactor up to 35 million degrees Celsius (63 million
degrees Fahrenheit) – this is over twice as hot as the Sun's core - containing
plasma, generating 300 trillion fusion reactions per second for 2 seconds.

There are three variables in
a fusion reactor - temperature, pressure, and time sustained. All three are
important but plasma pressure is vital to the overall energy generated, that’s
the reason why the MIT team is so motivated. According to the team, pressure
levels are "two-thirds of the challenge" of generating nuclear fusion
reactions.

The MIT scientists are offering
the outcomes of their record-breaking experiments at the International Atomic
Energy Agency Fusion Energy Conference this month. They'll also be hosting a
Reddit AMA on October 20, so if you got any questions you can ask them there.

This
blog is managed by Umer Abrar. To contact the editor, write to mirzavadoodulbaig@gmail.com
or follow him on facebook here: